Slidell pools the place to be for St. Tammany Swim League action

Splashing about in the pool at Cross Gates Family Fitness on Sunday afternoon, you could tell something a bit more intense was in the air than perfecting cannonball leaps into the cool water.

Scott Threlkeld / The Times-Picayune archiveSt. Tammany Parish Swim League action kicks off June 3 with a dual meet at Slidell Athletic Club and will continue through July 22-23 with the league championship to be held at Cross Gates Athletic Club in Slidell.

As we took the required, 10-minute, hourly break from our water fun, sipping icy shakes and such beneath a shady umbrella, Gators began swarming all around us — Cross Gates Gators, that is.

With them were adults aplenty, some there to cheer their young swimmers along during the club meet that was moments away from beginning and others there to lend a hand, timing events and assisting in the extremely demanding chores associated with running a meet.

St. Tammany Swim League equals fun and competition

Don’t be surprised if a swim meet spontaneously erupts around you during the weekends ahead, as member teams of the St. Tammany Swim League kick their season into high gear.

The St. Tammany Swim League is a summer program that promotes swimming competition, fun, and good sportsmanship. Consisting of swimmers 18 years old and younger, the league includes the Cross Gates Gators, Huntwyck Tornadoes, Lakeside Gators, Pinewood Porpoises, Slidell Athletic Club Marlins and Tanglewood Tarpons, all from the greater Slidell area, as well as the Picayune Aqua Dawgs from Picayune, Miss., and the Buccaneer Villa Barracudas, based in Chalmette.

The season includes a series of dual, triangular or quad meets among individual teams and three league-wide meets. Currently on the league’s schedule are:

Tri meets: Tanglewood and Picayune at Huntwyck, June 6; Buccaneer Villa and Picayune at Pinewood, June 13; Huntwyck and Tanglewood at Lakeside, June 13; and Cross Gates and Picayune at Lakeside, June 27.

Quad meet: Cross Gates, Huntwyck and Tanglewood, at Buccaneer Villa, June 18.The St. Tammany Swim League B Meet will be June 25 at Lakeside, with swimmers 10 and younger swimming in the morning, and swimmers 11 and older swimming in the afternoon.

The League’s A Meet will be July 9 at Slidell Athletic Club, with 10 and younger swimming early in the day, and swimmers 11 and older swimming in the afternoon.

And the League Championship Meet will be July 22 at Cross Gates Athletic Club for swimmers 10 and younger; and July 23 for those 11 and older.

You’ll want to make note of these dates if you want to catch the action, or time your weekend swims strategically to avoid the crowds.

League-wide meets are something to see

As I listened to Cross Gates Gator parent volunteer Jennifer Dudenhefer rally parents to assist in timing events Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help recalling fondly the league swim meets of my youth.

My family and practically every friend I knew would spend the entire day at the neighborhood pool, playing Hearts and gin rummy between races and gulps of Jello, eaten right out of the box “for energy.” It’s a wonder we didn’t levitate over the pool with that much sugar pulsing through our young veins.

Inspired by the swirl of activity at the business end of the Cross Gates pool complex on Sunday, I borrowed my son’s goggles and tackled a couple of freestyle laps in the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer pool at the other end of the complex.

Luckily, the lifeguards were not called into duty.

Go, young swimmers, while you still can!

For more information about the St. Tammany Swim League, email info@sttammanyswimleague.org, or visit www.sttammanyswimleague.org.